Wheel quenching device



May 13, 1952 R. E. PENROD WHEEL QUENCHING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Deo. 2'7, 1944 vivants,

May 13, 1952 R. E. PENROD 2,596,345

WHEEL QUENCHING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 27, 1944 r4 Sheets-Sheei'I 2 Inl/'#2125011 l loefi EPefzrad.

Atrne May 13, 1952 R. E. PENROD 2,596,345

WHEEL QUENCHING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 27, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 [n fait for o eri lf.' elzl'gl.

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WHEEL QUENCEING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Dec. 27, 1944 Patented May 13, 1952 WHEEL QUENCHING DEVICE Robert Earl Penrod, Johnstown, Bethlehem Steel Company,

Pennsylvania Original application De Pa., assigner to a `corporation of cember 2f?, 1944, Serial No.

569,994. Divided and this application February 28,1948, Serial No. 12,093

8 Claims. 1 This application relates to. apparatusfor the controlled` quenching during heat treating of steel carwheels and the like to obtain better and more uniform physical properties, and is a division-of my copending application, Serial No.`4 569,994,1iled December 27, 1944 and abandoned May 31, 1951, for the Method of Heat Wheels.

The operation of heat treating, as applied to most steels, consists fundamentally of heating slightly` above the critical temperature range of the steel, cooling rapidly, reheating below the critical range, and then cooling slowly. The degrec of hardness depends largely on the speed of initial cooling, and this in turn will vary with the thickness of the section andthe heat-absorbing qualities of the'quenching medium.

Water is the cheapest and most effective coin- `mon quenching medium, but with articles o1 irn regularsection such as railway car wheels, simple immersion in water cools the thin web or plate so drastically, compared to the thicker hub and rim portions, that extremely dangerous, and even explosive, shrinkage stresses are created. Total immersion in other ooolants, such as oil, results in inferior hardness with only slightly diminished internal stresses.

One method'of avoiding such residual stresses is shown in the United States patent to Kenney and WinklerJ No. 1,704,327, issued March 5, 1929. This involves quenching the rim by a water spray while protecting by shields the web of the wheel, thereby keeping the web red hot and plastic until the cooling and shrinking of the rim is complete. The diiiiculty here, however, is that most of the improvement in the physical proporties oi the'rim due to quenching is not shared by the web, so that service failures due to shearing stresses in the web may possibly occur.

One object of this invention, therefore, is to provide means'for making car wheels or the like having uniformly distributed high physical properties yet substantially free from residual stresses.

Another object is to provide means for quenching'wlieel rims while the web is plastic, and for quenching the web after shrinkage of the rim is complete.

A further object is to provide an apparatus for heat treating steel objects of irregular section.

Still other objects, purposes and advantages of my invention will appear hereinafter in the specification and in the appended claims.

In order to have my invention more clearly understood, I shall now refer' to the attached four sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like characters-oi refeierce designate like parts:

Treating (Cl. 13e-123) Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through thecentral portionl oi the quenching machine forming a part'oimy invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the rotating spray ring andbushing, showing the angular arrangement of the vanes of one form;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2', showing the arrangement of the spray holes and grease grooves;

Fig. e is a perspective view of apiece of bronze tubing showing the method oi cutting it to producefour vanos;

Fig. 5 is a sectional viewfoi' one of tlieimpulse nozzles; i

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing in detail the quenching of the upper half of a wheel;`

Fig'. 7 is' aside elevation of the web spray box assembly and showing a modified form of varies;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7;`

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic'view showing piping and valves controlling supply and drainage of the quenching huid and Fig. 10 is a detail view, partly in section, oi the automatically controlled three-day valve.

Referring now to the various characters of reference onV the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 1, the numerals I and 2 designate supporting base members of my quenching machine. Journaled in bearings- 3 and 4 in the casing 5 on the base member I is `the horizontal driving spindle 5, connected at one'end by the coupling 1 tothe shaft Si journaled in. bearings e and I (i of gear box i i with speed-reducing worm gear drive I2 driven by an electric motor or other suitable prime mover (not shown). Referring to Fig. 6, the otherend of said driving spindle 5 is bolted securely to theclamping face plate I3, to which in spaced relation is bolted the clamping ring I4 and web spray box I5 provided with a boss I5. Between the boss I5 of said web spray box I5 and the clampingface' plate I3 is the bushing I6, and in the' adjacent annularly recessed portion II of said .web spray box I5 interposed against the driving spindle'i is the strong spring I8. Bolted also to said web spray box I 5 is the threaded flange Isl, into which is screwed'the pipe 20, said pipe il) extending centrally and longitudinally through said driving' spindle t, the coupling I and shaft 8, and terminating in the stumng box 2|, plug 22, and tee 23, to which is connected a water suppiy pipe 23.

Similarly journaled in bearings 24 and 25 in the tubular casing 26 on the base member 2 is the horizontaldrifven spindle 21., which casing 26 is mounted and adapted to be moved inward or outward as desired by the two-way piston assembly 28 in the hydraulic cylinder 29. Bolted securely to the inner end of said driven spindle 21 is another clamping face plate 30, to which is similarly bolted in spaced relation the clamping ring 3l and a web spray box 32 provided with a ange 32. Between said iiange 32' and the clamping face plate 30 is the bushing 33, and interposed in the annularly recessed portion 32 of said web spray box 32 against the driven spindle 27 is the spring 35. Bolted to said web spray box 32 is the threaded flange 3'5, into which is screwed the pipe 37, said pipe 3l extending externally and longitudinally through the driven spindle 27, through the piston assembly 23 and the pipe 38, terminating in the stuiiing box 39, plug 40, tee M, and water supply pipe lil'.

As further shown in Fig. 6, the rim 52 of the wheel t3 is held firmly between the clamping rings i4 and 3i beneath the curved rim spray box 44. The hub 35 of the wheel t3 is similarly clamped between the web spray boxes l and 32,

thus preventing leakage of quenching fluid into the bore of the hub and is kept in place by the centering ring i6 bolted to the annular boss 47 of the web spray box l5. Joints are sealed against leakage by gaskets t8 and 49, and by packing 50 and 5l and retainers 52 and 53. Y

The assembly of the web spray box l5, shown in detail in Figs. 7 and 8, is substantially identical with that of web spray box 32, except that the latter does not require the centering ring 45 and boss 37. VSaid web spray boxes are provided with bolt holes 53 for bolts holding the spray box covers 55, the gaskets 55 and flanges I3 and 35 and with a plurality of radial channels 57 extending to the annular chamber 53 and terminating in tubular ducts having the generally tangentially disposed nozzles 53 at their outer ends. In an annular recess near the periphery of each web spray box are the slotted annular bushings or grease rings 6.0, on which is adapted to rotate the web spray ring 6|, which is provided with a plurality of inner vanes B2, made as shown in Fig. e and brazed at an angle ol 30 to the periphery as shown in Fig. 2, and with a plurality of angularly disposed spray holes 63 directed upon the web 64 of wheel 43. Alemite or similar fittings 65 lubricate the corresponding grease grooves 63 and '51 of the annular bushing 60 and spray ring 6I shown in Fig. 3.

The clamping rings i4 and 3l on each side are similar in function, but differ in dimensions because of the inward projection of the hub 45.

Considering now the treatment of a specific example of a forged or rolled railway car wheel 43, of a typical steel the basic composition of which is carbon .57 to .67%, manganese .60 to .85%, silicon .15 minimum, and sulphur and phosphorus each .05% maximum, said wheel is initially heated in an automatically controlled rotary hearth furnace with the four heating zones of 1200, 1400", 1500", and 1575 F. The Wheel is in the heatingV furnace approximately four and three-quarter hours as it slowly passes through the four zones of the furnace.

The wheel i3 being now at a temperature somewhat above the critical range of the steel, it is now by means of a crane or the like (not shown) placed in my quenching machine and the hydraulic cylinder 29 is operated to clampV the wheel as shown in Fig. 1. The door (not shown) is closed, the Wheel is rotated by the driving spindle 6, and the rim 42 is quenched with a water spray from the rim spray box 44 for four and three-quarters minutes. The plate or web 64 of the wheel is quenched for one-quarter minutes with a water spray from the counter-rotating web spray rings 6I after the rim i2 has been subjected to three and one-half minutes of its quench, so that both the rim and web quench are completed at the same time. It will be observed that the bore of the hub 45 is intentionally not quenched.

For opening and closing the rim and web quenches in proper sequence, conventional manually operated valves may be employed if desired, but I prefento use a system of combination timer mechanisms, such as are manufactured by the Automatic Temperature Control Company, line., each comprising an automatic dialor Vernier-set electric timer (e. g., A. T. C. Series 2800) interwired in one housing with a reversiblernotor-driven valve operator, to control the supply and drain valves. Devices of this type are shown, for example, in United States patents to Johanson, 1,978,947, and Wilhjelm, 1,999,027, and may be arranged as shown in Figs. 9 and l0 of the drawings hereof. n

As shown, the three-way valve 68 and the gate valve 69 remain closed until the hot wheel 43 has rotated about ten seconds. The timer mechanism 70 then opens the inlet of the valve 68 to supply Water to the rim spray'box 44 for the predetermined period. After the lapse of the desired interval, the timer mechanism 'H opens the valve B9 to admit water also to the web spray boxes l5 and 32. On completion of the quench, the timer mechanism 'EEB closes the inlet of valve 63 cutting ofi the Water supply to the spray boxes, and opens the outlet to sewer to drain residual Water from the spray boxes. The valve B9 is timed to close when the spray boxes have been drained, and the wheel i3 is then stopped and removed. Other valves may be employed as shown toiregulate pressure and the like.

When the water is admitted under pressure through the pipes 20 and 37, it passes through the radial channels 51, the annular chamber 58 and the tubular ducts in the web spray boxes I5 and 32, and issues from the nozzles 59 in a series of jets which strike the vanes 32 and cause the web spray rings 6l to rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation of the wheel 43. The water is then emitted from the spray holes 63 and quenches the wheel web 64. The result is a very evenly distributed web hardening eiect.

After quenching, the Wheel is placed in a tempering furnace and one-half hours, and is then placed in a bricklined pit or the like for controlled cooling for a Y minimum period of eighteen hours. Y

The improvement in hardness, uniformity, and diminshed inner stresses resulting from this method of treatment may be noted in the following table of Brinell hardness numbers and measurements of contraction, after radial cuts of representative wheels:

Although I have thus describedmy invention hereinabove in considerable detail, I do not wish 011e and drawn at 870 F. four andV to be limited narrowly to the exact and specific details which I have there shown and described, but I may use also such substitutions, modications, or equivalents thereof as are included within the scope and spirit of the invention or pointed out in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for quenching car wheels and the like comprising hydraulic means for clamping the wheel, means for rotating the clamped Wheel, means for spraying the rim of the wheel with a coolant, and means for spraying the web of the wheel with a counter-rotating spray after shrinkage of the cooled rim is substantially complete.

2. An apparatus for quenching car wheels and the like comprising cooperating means for clamping the wheel, means for rotating the clamped wheel, and rotary spray nozzle means driven by the quench water and disposed generally coaxially of the Wheel between the wheel and the clamping means.

3. An apparatus for quenching car wheels and the like comprising retractable means for clamping the wheel therebetween, means for rotating the clamped wheel, fixed means for spraying the rim of the wheel with water, means for spraying the web of the wheel with water, and vane means for rotating the web spray means by the force of said water.

4. An apparatus for quenching car wheels and the like, comprising supporting base members, a pair of spindles rotatably mounted on said base members, rim-clamping means and a web spray box mounted on each spindle adapted for positioning the wheel generally vertically therebetween, and means for supplying quenching fluid through the spindles to the web spray boxes.

5. An apparatus for quenching car wheels and the like, comprising supporting base members. bearings mounted on said base members, a pair of horizontal spindles journaled in said bearings. rim-clamping means and a web spray box mounted on each spindle adapted for the wheel to be inserted therebetween and supported in a vertical position by the rim-clamping means, a rim spray box above the wheel, means for supplying quenching fluid to the rim and web spray boxes, and means for withholding the web quench until a predetermined portion of the rim quenching period has elapsed.

6. An apparatus for hardening car wheels and the like comprising a pair of clamping rings adapted to engage the rim of the wheel on opposite sides and to support the wheel in vertical position, a face plate secured to ring in spaced relation thereto, a circular web spray box secured to the inner side of each face plate, a spindle secured to the outer side of each face plate adapted for rotating the wheel, a rim spray box mounted above the Wheel, a timeroperated valve adapted for controlling fluid supply to all the web and rim spray boxes together, and a separate timer-operated valve adapted for controlling lluid supply to the web spray boxes only.

7. An apparatus for hardening car wheels and the like uniformly, comprising a pair of clamping members adapted to engage the rim of the wheel on opposite sides, a face plate secured in spaced relation to each clamping member, a circular hub-contacting water box provided with a plurality of generally tangentially disposed nozzles and centrally communicating passages, secured to the inner side of each face plate, water supply pipes connected to said passages, means for regulating the flow through said pipes, a perforated hollow web spray ring rotatably mounted on each water box and provided with a plurality of inner vanes adapted to receive the impact of water from the nozzles for separately revolving said web spray ring, and means for applying quenching fluid to the rim of the wheel.

8. An apparatus for quenching car wheels and the like comprising supporting base members, a casing on one base member, bearings in said casing, a driving spindle journaled 1n said bearings, a shaft coupled to one end of said driving spindle, reducing gears adapted to connect said shaft with a prime mover, a slidable casing on a second base member, bearings in said casing, a second spindle vanes to impart rotation to each spray ring. ROBERT EARL PENROD. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

